Google My Business - Service Area - Use Zip Codes or City Names?
-
Google allows you to choose up to 20 locations as service areas, and you can choose based on cities, counties, or zip codes. I'm trying to determine if zip codes, cities, or counties are better to select for our GMB profiles. We are located in the US.
I am thinking it's best to use all 20 areas allowed on a profile as long as they are relevant, generally giving Google all the info they will let you provide is best. I also am leaning toward using zip codes because it also includes the city when you choose by zip code.
For example:
- Entered the zip code 21009 and the service area selection provided was: Abingdon, MD 21009, USA
- Entering the city/state returns a selection of Abingdon, MD, USA
I also think it may have to do with how people search and find your business as well? Does anyone have experience with this? Best practices? My google searching has not turned up any reliable info.
-
Hello There!
I'm so sorry it took me a couple of days to respond on this. I have two pieces of advice for this:
-
Remember that however you choose to set your service area, it will likely have no effect on your rankings. SAB settings have never been demonstrated to impact rank.
-
What you do choose should properly reflect the service area for that particular location of your business. I find it easiest just to list the service cities and, unless you have some specific case for doing otherwise, that may be easiest for you, too. So, for example, if my bakery is in Berkeley, CA and delivers to Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond and Daly City, then those are the cities I would select. I wouldn't add extra cities just because Google allows it. I would just be accurate in reflecting where I deliver. Then, if I had a second Bakery in Ukiah, CA that delivers to Redwood Valley, El Largo and Calpella, I'd select those cities for that listing.
And, of course, please be certain that any listing you are creating for an SAB business model meets Google's guidelines https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en. Please let me know if you have any further questions. I'm happy to tell you anything I know.
-
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google is surfacing non-urgent care facilities for urgent care searches on Google Maps. How can I fix this?
I work for a large healthcare system in Utah. Google Maps is showing one of our non-urgent care clinics on searches for our branded urgent care locations ("InstaCare" is the branded term). From what I can tell, the only reason this is happening is because of a global footer on the clinic's website that links back to the urgent hub (see Imgur link for what I mean). Here's the clinic's site: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/south-sandy-clinic/ Is there any way to get Google to stop doing this? Short of deleting the link in the global footer, of course. That's a no go. Thanks in advance! 5S4Jalw.png?1
Local Listings | | Marty_at_IHC0 -
Does Google prioritise local domains?
I'm in Australia targeting Australian traffic. I often see US domains in the Google SERPS and wonder if that indicates an opportunity for local (Australian) domains to rank?
Local Listings | | Lazeh0 -
Google my business : Multiple businesses operating from the same location.
After multiple phone calls with Google My Business help, I'm still completely stumped! I need to set up Google my business pages for 5 business', however, each of these companies work in the same office - so the location used on Google my business would be the same. I want to know if this is possible? Surely there's ways to do it, especially since the increase of hot-desking and shared offices! Thanks
Local Listings | | sophiecrosby970 -
How do I treat multiple buildings on the same college campus on Google for local SEO?
Should I delete them? Simply give them a different address like "City, State, Zip"? I see the benefit of having key buildings on campus in Google Maps, but I don't want those to affect my accuracy score and, thus, my local rankings for SEO.
Local Listings | | GabeGibitz1 -
Google Crowsourcing Missing Places
You may already have seen this in the past week or so, but it's new to me! Check out this screenshot from the bottom of the Local Finder for a search for 'electricians houston': http://screencast.com/t/NKW3KuxIuPo I saw this first referenced by Issac Hammelburger at Phil Rozek's G+ Community and see this as yet another Googl-ish thing to do, crowdsourcing data. They are trying to make it easier to add GMB listings, undoubtedly for owners who have never heard of Google My Business, but I've not yet tried the feature out. If you click on the ADD A MISSING PLACE link, you'll be able to input core data about a business. There's also a link to claim the business present. Has anyone here in our super Local SEO community tried to add a business via this new feature? Are you seeing it in a lot of local finders? What do you think of it?
Local Listings | | MiriamEllis3 -
Reliably Tracking Google Snack Pack Rankings
I have yet to find a way to reliably see my "snack pack" standings without going all out and using a VPN. I have moz pro and it looks like I can only track organic and local organic rankings. Anyone have a solution?
Local Listings | | zact10240 -
I don't have a business address, Any problem?
I am targeting local area, Melbourne in Australia. My business address is my private (home) address and I don't want to list it as we don't have a shopfront, and I don't want my personal address online. Is there a way to get around this? Web site - brandstenmedia.com.au Services - Aerial Photography & Videography
Local Listings | | Green.landon0 -
Google+ Business Listings: Hours Displayed Incorrectly
Hi, When I do a search for our brand + location name (basically making sure we at least appear for that) the hours displayed are incorrect except when I log into our account to edit the hours they are right. Ex: Google SERP displays hours 8am - 11pm but within business listing account hours entered are 8pm - 10pm. Has anyone come across this and why would it be? Is it a case of other citations showing the incorrect hours? Thanks for your help WMCA
Local Listings | | WMCA0